Thoughts on Sabotage (1936) · 4:35am Jan 31st, 2019
So I just watched Sabotage.
And it was pretty good.
This review of sorts is a day early because due to the cold weather, classes were cancelled for today and tomorrow, and I thought that since I had the time, I ought to see this movie today. The professor wanted us to see it anyway and luckily I have it on DVD.
Anyway. The movie. I thought it was pretty good, as per usual with Hitchcock movies. The acting and camerawork were both about as good as I've seen, and the sets were well made. One thing of note is that at one point in the movie a bus blows up, and it's not off camera, it's shown. This movie came out in 1936. I'm not going to pretend that I know what practical effects were like back then but it looked pretty good for a movie that's older than my grandmother.
The plot was pretty interesting and it was something I could appreciate, and the music was good and appropriately used, especially when there was none. Hitchcock knew when to and when not to use music and this movie shows it.
The problem was that I was just disengaged. Now this is probably a me problem but I wasn't able to focus my whole attention on the movie all of the time. Maybe it's because I was sitting here in my room and not in a classroom with about fifteen to twenty other people, but I wasn't as into it.
Still, I think this is something that people ought to see at some point. Apparently, it's got 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, and even if one disagrees with critics a lot of the time, that number should say something. I'm probably going to watch this movie again at some point and then I may be able to appreciate it more, but until then, I'm tentatively going to give this movie a seven or eight out of ten.
